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GAYANNE POTTER CLAIMED THE PUBLICLY-OWNED RAIL OPERATOR BASED ITS AI ANNOUNCER - KNOWN AS IONA - ON RECORDINGS SHE MADE IN 2021. EMMA O'NEILL Assistant Live News Editor and KATRINE
BUSSEY PA SCOTLAND POLITICAL EDITOR 15:19, 05 Jun 2025 ScotRail is addressing issues with an AI train announcer following allegations it used a woman's voice without consent, the First
Minister has announced. John Swinney acknowledged there had been some "controversy" surrounding the matter after Scottish voiceover artist Gayanne Potter claimed the state-owned
rail service modelled its AI announcer – known as Iona – on recordings she made in 2021. Responding to Fiona Hyslop's prompt, he stated: "The Transport Secretary tells me
they're fixing it, so they will be fixing it." The subject was brought up during First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, where Scottish Conservative MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane
questioned if this reflects the Scottish Government's support for actors since ScotRail came under public ownership in 2022. Dr Gulhane continued to press Mr Swinney on the issue after
Ms Potter, in a widely circulated Facebook post, accused ScotRail of ignoring her concerns. Article continues below She alleged that Iona's voice originated from voice data held by
Swedish company ReadSpeaker, for whom she recorded in 2021, claiming that their use of her voice in an AI model breached the terms of her contract with them. Ms Potter expressed her
"distress" upon learning that Scotland had "installed the ReadSpeaker model 'Iona' that contains my biometric voice data as their new announcer on all their
trains". She emphasised: "I did not know. I was not asked. I did not consent." Article continues below Mr Swinney assured that he is "sure" ScotRail will
"engage constructively with all concerned". He further commented: "I think sometimes these things do indeed need careful handling and I am sure ScotRail will be doing exactly
that." _DON'T MISS THE LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND SCOTLAND AND BEYOND - SIGN UP TO OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER HERE._